ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK
COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Division of Administration and Economics
SYLLABUS
Appreciation of Italian Food, Wine & Culture
HMT 2025
(cross listed with ITA 3530)
Will be offered on the Rome Campus
Submitted October 21, 2014
Dr. A. Forte, HMT
Dr. A. Sacca, ITA
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DIVISION
Administration and Economics
COURSE NAME
Appreciation of Italian Food, Wine & Culture
COURSE NUMBER
HMT 2025
(cross listed with ITA 3530/4990)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Profile of Italian history and culture through the analysis of gastronomic
documents and literary texts that span from the ancient Greeks to contemporary times.
Special emphasis will be given to the study of the regional cuisines and wines, and their
development.
PREREQUISITES
NONE
CREDIT
Three (3) semester hours
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will be able to:
1. Explain why food and wine are one of the most fundamental cultural aspects of
Italian society
2. Describe the emerging discipline of ‘food history’
3. Describe how food and wine impacts Italian history
4. Describe primary historical and literary sources on the topic of food assessing
them in both class discussions and their writing
5. Develop skills for wine appreciation, selection, pairing of Italian wines and food.
6. Identify major wine regions of Italy in terms of the styles of wine and grape
varieties grown
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UNIT OF INSTRUCTION
Establishing a cultural framework for the history of food in Italy the Wine Talk: An
Overview. What is Wine ?
An understanding of the importance of place (osteria, trattoria, ristorante, tavola calda…)
as the workbench for success of old and new recipes and wines
Regional traditions at the table: an Overview.
Food and wines of Northern Italy
Food and wines of Tuscany
The food and wines of Rome
Food and wines of Southern Italy
Pairing wine with food
The Importance of food for Italian Immigrants in the United States
The importance of the Mediterranean diet and the Slow Food Movement
An historical appreciation of the change in eating and drinking habits in modern Italy,
and a knowledge of Italy’s move towards a more ethnical and global taste
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION
Lecture, class discussion, selected cases, supplementary readings and films, audio visual,
technology, e.g. DVS’s, computers/Internet.
GRADING
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & ASSESSMENT
Class Attendance
Field Trips Participation
Require Readings & Quizzes
Written Assignments
Term Project
Total
20%
20%
20%
10%
30%
100%
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REQUIRED READINGS
Required Text: Capatti, A., and M. Montanari, Italian Cuisine. A Cultural History (New
York 2003)
Henderson, J. P., & Rex, D. (2011). About Wine. (2nd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Cengage
Learning. ISBN-13: 9-7814-3905-6509.
Optional: Dickie, John Delizia: The Epic History of the Italians and their Food (Sceptre
2007)
Watch: In class – clips from “Italian Fast Food,” “Dov’é McDonald’s”
Read: Terra Madre Website:
http://www.terramadre.info/pagine/welcome.lasso?n=en&session=terramadre:4B14C410
591b2E901Uxo12CEECE
Read: http://www.parlafood.come/rome-sustainable-food-project/ Creating, Slow Food,
227-249
Read: The futurist cookbook
REFERENCES (“FOOD” PART)
Albala, Ken. Eating Right in the Renaissance. Berkely 2002.
Albala, Ken. The Banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of Late Renaissance Europe.
New York, 2007.
Anderson, Burton. An Endless Adventure in Taste. New York, 2007 (ebook).
Capatti, A., and M. Montanari. Italian Cuisine: A Cultural History, New York, 2003.
Charters, S. ‘Wine in the Modern World’ Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. (ed.) S.H.
Katz, New York, 2003.
Counihan, C. Around the Tuscan Table. Food, Family, and Gender in Twentieth-Century
Florence. New York, 2004.
Counihan, C. M. ‘The Social and Cultural Uses of Food’, The Cambridge World History
of Food, (ed.) K. F. Kiple and K. C. Ornelas, Cambridge, 2000.
Cyriax, Tony. Among Italian Peasants. London, 1919.
Dalby, A. ‘Rome and the Roman Empire’, Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, (ed.) S.H.
Katz, New York, 2003.
Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford, 1999.
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Del Giudice, L. ‘Foodways and Food’, S. J. LaGumina (et al). (eds) The Italian
American Experience: An Encyclopedia. New York, 2000.
Del Giudice, L. ‘Slow Food’. Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, (ed.) S. H. Katz, New
York, 2003.
Dickie, John. Delizia: The Epic History of the Italians and their Food. London, 2007.
Faas, Patrick. Around the Roman Table. London, 2003.
Fernandez-Armesto. Near A Thousand Tables: A History of Food. New York, 2002.
J. F. Flandrin and M. Montanari. Food – A Culinary History. New York, 1999.
Helstosky, Carol. Garlic and Oil: Food and Politics in Italy. New York, 2004.
Jones, Martin. Feast: Why Humans Share Food. Oxford, 2007.
Kiple, K. F. A Moveable Feast: The Millennia of Food Globalisation. Cambridge, 2007.
Kostioukocitch, Elena. Why Italians Love to Talk about Food: A Journey Through
Italy’s Great Regional Cuisines from the Alps to Sicily. London, 2009.
Long-Solis, J. ‘Columbian Exchange. Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, New York,
2003.
Mariani, John. How Italian Food Conquered the World. New York, 2011.
Montanari, M. The Culture of Food. New York, 1996.
Montanari, M. Food is Culture. New York, 2006.
Nestle, M. “Mediterranean (Diets and Disease Prevention)”, The Cambridge World
History of Food, (ed.) K. F. Kiple and K. C. Ornelas. Cambridge, 2000.
Riley, Gillian. The Oxford Companion to Italian Food. Oxford, 2007.
Robinson, Jancis. The Oxford Companion to Wine. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1999.
Santich, B. ‘Renaissance Banquets’. Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, (ed.) S. H.
Katz. New York, 2003.
Serventi, Silvano and F. Saban. Pasta: The Story of a Universal Food. Columbia, 2002.
Varriano, J. Tastes and Temptations: Food and Art in Renaissance Italy. Berkeley,
2009.
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REFERENCES (“WINE” PART)
Bastianich, J., Lynch, D., & Bastianich, M., (2002). Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines
of Italy. New York, NY: Clarkson Potter/Publishers.
Bird, D. (2005). Understanding wine technology: The Science of Wine. San Francisco,
CA: The Wine Appreciation Guild.
Belfrage, MW N., & Johnson, H. (2009). The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy:
A Regional and Village Guide to the Best Wines and Their Producers (The world’s finest
wines). Davis, CA: University of Californina Press.
Bleu, L. C. (2001). The Food and Culture Around the World Handbook. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Burnham, D., & Skilleas, O. M. (2012). The Aesthetics of Wine. New York, NY: John
Wiley & Sons.
Capatti, A., Montanari, M., & O’Healy, A. (2003). Italian Cuisine: A Cultural History.
New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
DeLong, S. (2011). Wine Map of Italy. North Las Vegas, NV: De Long Company.
Goldstein, E. (2006). Perfect Pairing: A Master Sommelier’s Practical Advice for
Partnering Wine and Food. University of California Press.
Goode, J. (2006). The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass. Davis, CA: University of
California Press.
Harrington, R. J. (2008). Food and Wine Pairing: A Sensory Experience. New York,
NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Henderson, J. P., & Rex, D. (2012). About Wine (2nd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Thomson
Delmar Learning.
Jackson, R. S. (2008). Wine Science: Principles, Practice, Perception (3rd ed.).
Waltham, MA: Academic Press.
Johnson, H., & Robinson, J. (2007). The World Atlas of Wine. (6th ed.). Mitchell Beazley
Publishing.
Julyan, B. (2003). Sales and Service for the Wine Professional. Thomson Business
Press.
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Koplan, S., Smith, B.H., & Weiss, M. A. (2002). Exploring Wine. (2nd ed.). New York,
NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Koplan, S., Smith, B. H., & Weiss, M. A. (2008). WineWise: Your Complete Guide to
Understanding, Selecting, and Enjoying Wine. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Kramer, M. (2006). Making Sense of Italian Wine. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press.
Laloganes, J. P. (2010). The Essentials of Wine with Food Pairing Techniques. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Margalit, Y. (2004). Concepts in Wine Chemistry. (2nd ed.) Wine Appreciation Guild.
Mcwilliams, M. (2010). Food Around the World: A Cultural Perspective. (3rd ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Parasecoli, F. (2004). Food Culture in Italy. San Jose, CA: Greenwood Publishing
Group, Inc.
Robinson, J. (2006). The Oxford Companion to Wine. (Ed.). (3rd ed.). Oxford University
Press.
Rosso, G. (2012). Italian Wines 2012. New York, NY: Gambero Rosso Publisher.
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